Arsenal fan Piers Morgan has announced who he wants the Gunners to sign during the summer, and what a side they would have if this became a reality.
The TV presenter has targeted five different positions that would add depth and quality to the north London outfit, but he has not included his pal Cristiano Ronaldo.
A 3-0 defeat to Brighton at the Emirates all but ended Arsenal’s hopes of claiming a first Premier League title in nearly 20 years, with Manchester City having a four-point cushion and a game in hand.
Given Arsenal held an advantage over their title rivals going into April, it has been quite a drop-off in form for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Morgan himself was especially critical of the squad after the Brighton performance.
He wrote on Twitter: “It’s not ‘success’ to be 8pts clear, then fail to win two consecutive games when we were 2-0 up, go 2-0 down in 10 mins at home to the worst team in the League, get humiliated at City, & surrender in a pitiful manner to Brighton at home today. It’s failure, and we bottled it.”
Morgan wants Arsenal to sign five players
And so that he does not have to go through the agony of losing a league title next season, Morgan has ordered the Gunners to sign five players in the upcoming transfer window.
“If Arsenal want to actually win major trophies next season, here is my shopping list,” Morgan wrote. “And we need all of them.”
First up on the list is Napoli centre-back Kim Min-jae.
While William Saliba and Gabriel have looked solid as a partnership, the former has been out for several weeks with an injury.
Arsenal’s drop in form coincided with his absence, so it is no surprise to see Morgan asking for another impressive central defender to reinforce the ranks.
Morgan also wants to add two Premier League proven midfielders, with West Ham’s Declan Rice and Brighton’s Moises Caicedo both named.
The two players have been heavily linked with Arsenal in the past, and the Gunners are reportedly favourites to sign Rice in the summer.
Caicedo nearly signed in January and Arsenal’s interest is unlikely to have waned following an impressive season with the Seagulls.
The Ecuadorian would add defensive solidity to the team while bringing technical passing ability with him as well.
Morgan would also like his team to conduct a double purchase while at Brighton and come away with Kaoru Mitoma too.
One of the breakout stars this year with seven goals and four assists in his first season in English football, he would certainly add attacking threat.
And Morgan would add a striker as a final marquee signing, specifically one of Victor Osimhen or Dusan Vlahovic.
Gabriel Jesus has shone at points for Arsenal this season, but he has netted just 10 times in the league and has also missed a chunk of the campaign through injury.
A more consistent goal threat would definitely turn Arsenal into greater title favourites. Napoli striker Osimhen has been excellent this season, scoring 23 Serie A goals.
And while Vlahovic has not shown the same level of quality this campaign, his performances at Fiorentina were enough to earn him links to Arsenal in the past.
Interestingly, Al-Nassr striker Ronaldo was not named by Morgan, despite the two striking up a rapport in their TV interview last year and the presenter labelling him, “the best ever.”
One fan called him out on the matter, to which Morgan said: “Mock all you like, but if we’d signed Ronaldo when he left Utd, until the end of the season – as he was keen to do btw – we would have won the League. He knows how to win major trophies, and how to score goals when it really matters.”
We’ll never know if Piers would have been right.
